E-Malt.com News article: 4537

Canada: Ms. Manjit Minhas, President of Lakeshore Creek Brewing Company, announced on March 28 the introduction of the company's beer brands into Ontario on April 11, 2005. This is a bold expansion move for the 24 year old, who has already shaken up the beer business in Manitoba. Her company captured a 10% market share of the take home beer business in only 4 months since start-up. Manitoba sales are still growing at double digits every week.

Lakeshore Creek Classic Lager with 5.5% alc/vol will be available in all 437 "The Beer Stores" throughout Ontario. Lakeshore's strategy is different from other "value" brand brewers in Ontario in that it sells its beer only in cans. Lakeshore Creek Classic Lager is priced at $5.75 plus taxes and refundable deposits for a 6 pack of 355 mL cans. A 710 mL (24 oz) can of Lakeshore Creek Classic Lager costs only $1.81 plus taxes and refundable deposit.

Minhas is well known for taking the big brewers head-on and offering premium quality brews at aggressive prices. Her companies utilize edgy ads and offer consumers "Damn Good Beer!", She is also personally appearing in new TV ads that extol the virtues of beer in cans vs. bottles. The commercials will be aired on CTV, A Channel, Global, CBC, Omni, Toronto 1 and CLT channels, generating 100 million impressions over the next 4 months in the Ontario market. This will be followed with print and radio media campaigns.

The marketing campaign is designed to sway Ontario's beer drinkers to reinvent the Ontario beer industry by becoming more can-centric – thus spurring a major shift from the bottle driven sales environment preferred by the major brewers. The same strategy succeeded in causing many beer drinkers to switch from bottles to less expensive cans in Manitoba. This market shift prompted the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) to announce a tax increase on value priced beer. The ensuing public uproar forced the Manitoba Government to rescind the planned tax increase.


30 March, 2005